WASHINGTON – Apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the southwest border are down by nearly a third over the past six months compared to the same period a year ago, government officials said Friday. The across-the-board reduction includes a 50 percent drop in the apprehension of unaccompanied children flocking into Texas, which was flooded by immigrant …

The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto legislation championed by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady of the Woodlands that would permanently extend the deduction for state and local sales taxes, an important write-off in Texas and other states that have no income tax. Administration officials said it would add $42 billion to the deficit over …

WASHINGTON – After months of delay, a unanimous U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Alfred Bennett to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, cracking open slightly a national logjam of judicial nominations and a backlog of cases. Bennett’s 95-0 vote, though welcomed by legal reformers, still leaves in limbo at least …

WASHINGTON – A rematch is on in a west Texas congressional district that has gone back and forth between the parties in the past three elections. Former congressman Pete Gallego, a Democrat from Alpine, announced Thursday that he will run in 2016 to reclaim the U.S House seat he lost in November by 2,500 votes …

The Lone Star state’s two U.S. senators came out on opposite sides Friday of a GOP budget blueprint that was heralded as a sign that Republicans can govern better than Democrats. The largely party-line 52-46 vote followed a marathon “vote-a-rama” of amendments, none of them binding, on a 2016 budget document which serves mostly as …

AUSTIN — The former chair of the Texas Ethics Commission says the state regulator of campaign finance and lobby laws is equivalent to a toothless watchdog and should halt all enforcement actions following a decision by a judge to toss a high-profile … …

WASHINGTON — Seeking to break a weeklong impasse on a popular anti-sex trafficking bill, Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn proposed a compromise Thursday to resolve a partisan dispute over abortion funding. But the initial answer from Democratic leaders was still no. Cornyn’s offer would funnel victims’ fund moneys raised from criminal fines under the bill …

Another day, another vote – and still the U.S. Senate remains mired in gridlock over an abortion provision in a bill championed by Texas Republican John Cornyn to combat sex trafficking. A 57-41 vote to cut off debate Wednesday left the Republicans three votes shy of the 60 needed to break a Democratic filibuster. …

A Texas-led lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration got some legal support Wednesday from a group of Washington lawmakers, including Texas U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Joined by San Antonio Republican Lamar Smith and the American Center for Law and Justice, the group filed an amicus brief with the 5th …